Cleat for securing prepared roofing.



W. H. WOERHEIDE.

GLEAT FOR SECURING PREPARED ROOFING.

APPLICATION FILED JAN 22, 1909.

' Patented 0013 231910.

NI D STATES PATIENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM H. WOERHEIDE, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

CLEA'I. FOR SECURING PREPARED ROOFING.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. 'WOER- IIEIDE, a citizen of the United States of America, residing in the city of. St. Louis and State of Missouri, haveinvented 'cer-' tain new and useful Improvementsjn Cleats for Securing Prepared Roofing, of which' metal through which the nails are driven and which rest upon the roofing sheets.

There are many objections to the'use of nails alone or nails in association with metal caps in attaching roofing sheets to buildings among which objections the followin may be enumerated: Large headed nai s, or

round metal'caps used in conjunction withcommon nails, provide only very small hearing surfaces and as they are usually placed on from two inch to four inch centers (or; two to four i ches apart) it is quite obvious thatthey bin d but a very small percentage of the seam or lap, in comparison with the space between nails (or metal caps and nails) where the roofing sheets are not secured at all, and as prepared roofing fabrics generally-have a tendency to buckle up, especially between nailing points, it is apparent that these accessories do not provide for a water-tight seam of continuous and uniform pressure. This small and intermittent bearin surface also permits the nails to pull t%rough and tear the =.-roofing fabric when it is subjected to wind pressure or to the strain of expansion and contraction of buildingsdurin'g the extremesof heat and cold. It is also very difiicult, in fact practically impossible, to prevent workmen from canting large headed nails, resulting inth'e heads cutting'into and very often through the roofing fabric, resulting in leaks, and as sisting in creating and furthering troublesome conditions.

As all repared roofing is lapped before being na' ed, it is apparent that nails are placed without regard to cracks or spaces beneath the roofing material where sheathing Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed January 22, 1909. Serial No. 473,-71 0.

Patented Oct. 25, 1910.

boards abut, therefore a great many nails are driven into these cracks, and as each nail, or metal cap and nail forms a separate and perfectly independent part of the general fastening scheme, it is clear that all nails so driven into cracks, lose at once and entirely their efficiency and eventuall work out, not only leaving .alhol e directly t rough both sheets of roofing fabric (through which water enters but also permitting the lap to open for a space of from .four to. six inchesr All of the accessories in use at thepresent time "for securing prepared roofing, are.f

dependent upon a seinifluid', so called, roofing cement, which in theory is calculated to thoroughly cement adjoining sheets of roofing fabric where they overlap. However,

this cement does not in actual practice do a what theory claimsfor it as it is invariably applied cold, and since it takes from twentyfour to thirty-six hours to set, it can be readily appreciated that where there is no ressure. brought to bear between the nail mg points this cement is in nowise effective a in securing the seam between the fastening points. Furthermore, the use of cement with prepared roofing is not only inconvenient and uncertain, but detracts materially from the ornate appearance of the roo-fof a building.

It is the object of my invention to provide a cleat which will insure an absolutely watertight seam of continuous and uniform strength and ressure, without the use of cement, and W ereby prepared roofing fab-.

rics may be firmly and unyieldingly held in place, and so retained throughout their.extent upon the roof as to overcome completely the objectionable occurrences and features to which I have directed attention.

Figure I is a sectional perspective view of the roof of a building showing prepared roofing thereon secured at the butt and seams with my improved cleats. Fig. II is an enlarged longitudinal section taken through one of my cleats and through a fragment of a roof. Fig. III is an enlarged cross section taken, through one of my cleats and through a fragment of a roof.

In the accompanying drawings, A designates a fragment of sheathing of a roof and B roofing sheets laid upon the sheathing and overlapped to provide seam joints. The roofing sheets are shown in Fig. I as extending in a vertical direction only, but it is ob- .hold the cleat from movement in theslightvious that they may be extended in a hori- I zontal directioir equally as well. I 1 designates my cleats, which are made of a stifi sheet metal and are arched trans. versely. Each cleat is also bowed or curved downwardly at its ends, as seen at 2. The sides and ends of the cleat are provided with i a continuous outwardly projecting base flange 3, which is provided so that the'cleat may rest upon the fabric or roofing in such a manner as to permit ofa strong and continuous binding pressure being brought to bear without injuring or impairing the roofing fabric and also in such a manner that the strain of holding a tight seam does not bear directly at nailing points, but by the shape of my cleat and the flange the strain of holding a seam tight is evenly distributed throughout the length of the seam.

My cleat is provided with a plurality of nail holes located in a line extending longitudinally of the cleat and midway of its sides, through which the nails, as seen at 4, may be driven to hold the cleat in place upon the roofing sheet.

In the use of my roofing cleats the flanges of the cleats press firmly upon the fabric by which the cleats are held and when the nails are driven through the cleats, roofing 'fabric and the sheathing beneath'the roofing fabric, the cleats are held solidly in position.

I desire to direct particular notice to the. fact that even though some fastening. nails driven through my cleat should pass into cracks or crevices in or between the sheathing boards of the roof there are always other nails in position in the cleatwhich are solidly embedded in the sheathing and act to est degree, thisresult being obtained by the elongated shape of the cleat and the fact that it is secured by a plurality of nails, as distinguished from the use of a metal cap that receives only one nail so that by using my cleats a two to one multiple of safety is provided against leaks being caused by nails going into cracks or crevices in or between sheathing boards.

The raised portion of the cleat being'not wider than the face of such a hammer as is ordinarily used in driving the nails there is no crushing down of the crown between the side Walls and the crown of the arch being practically no wider than the head of the nail being driven through it therefore presents no surface beyond the head of the nail for the face of a hammer to come into contact with when the blow is not accurately delivered, so that the impact of the blow is always caught by the head of the nail and the pressure distributed evenly throughout the cleat at the base flange. Missing the nail entirely, the hammer would be apt to hit, not the side, but the base flange.

It is to be particularly noted that my cleat being arched transversely and having a narrow crown and having its side walls extending abruptly from the crown, there is thereby produced a construction in which there is a high degree of resistance to avoid possibility of the cleat being mashed when nails are driven through it, and furthermore, due to this construction, there is no opportunity for the crown of the cleat being depressed between the side walls, but, on the contrary, force that is applied to the crown must be transmitted directly therefrom through the side walls to the object on which the cleat is laid. It is further to be noted in connection with the features of construction set forth, that the end portions of the cleat serve as stays for the side walls to prevent their outward movement or spreading action, thereby greatly increasing the rigidity of the. cleat, in order that it ma perform its office with a high degree of eflf ciency. I desire to call attention, in connection with the last mentioned feature of construction of my cleat, to the fact that the end or sta portions of the cleat are produced by rawing the metal at the ends of the cleat, as distinguished from amerebending action, and that, as a consequence, the metal in the end ortions is caused to become set and to stlifen due to the drawing a of the metal. The end portions are, therefore, rendered of such nature as to offer greater resistance to the outward movement or spreading of the side walls than the would if the metal was not drawn as state 1. A cleat arched transversely and having greaterlength than breadth, the crown of the arch being narrow, the side walls of the arch leading with sufiicient abruptness from the narrow crown to the base of the cleat to prevent depression of the crown between the side walls, and the ends of the cleat being closed by stay portions restraining the side walls from spreading outwardly beneath said crown.

2. A cleat arched transversely and having greater length than breadth, the crown of the arch being narrow, the side walls of the arch leading with suflicient abruptness from the narrow crown to the base of the cleat to prevent depression of the crown between the side walls, the ends of the cleat being closed by stay portions drawn from, and leading abruptly from, the crown to the base of the cleat and connecting the side walls to resist outward movement thereof beneath the crown of the cleat.

3. A cleat arched transversely and having greater length than breadth, the crown of the arch being narrow, the side walls of the arch leading with sufiicient abruptness from the narrow crown to the base of the cleat to prevent depression of the crown between theside walls, and the ends of the cleat bein closed by stay portions restraining the si e walls from spreading outwardly beneath said crown; the crown of said arch having therein, in alinement with each other lon 'itudinally of the cleat a plurality of nail holes at the transverse center of the crown for a plurality of nails collectively of service in holding the cleat to its seatby direct action therefrom to and through said side walls.

4. A cleat arched transversely and having greater length than breadth, the crown of the arch being narrow, the side walls of the arch leading with sufiicient abruptness from the narrow crown to the base of the cleat to prevent depression of the crown between the side walls, the ends of the cleat being closed by stay portions leading abruptly from the crown to the base of the cleat and connecting the slde walls to resist outward movement thereof beneath the crown of the cleat;

the crown of said arch having therein, in alinement with each other longitudinally of the cleat a plurality of nail holes at the transverse center of the crown for a plurality of nails collectively of service in holding the cleat to its seat-by direct action therefrom to and through said side walls. WILLIAM H. VVOERHEIDE. In the presence of v H. G. COOK,

E. B. LINN. 

